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President wilson, trustees, faculty, family, friends and fellow graduates, I am

honored to speak to you on this very important day.
First, i'd like to thank the administration and faculty of state university for their
hard work and dedication on our behalf. I think that college students often take
their college experience for granted, as just the step between high school and the
real world.
As the first member of my family to graduate from college i do not take one bit of it
for granted. So I thank every one of you who has made this university what it is and
every one of you who has supported me and my fellow students along the way. We
have gotten A great education here.

 On a personal note, being the first college graduate from my family, I would like to honor my parents
in the audience who encouraged me and supported me and without whom this would not have been
possible. Mom and dad, thank you so much.

Fellow graduates, today we have finished something. Sometimes I think it is ironic that - in each

endeavor in our academic lives - we learn and grow and achieve the highest level possible in that
institution, and then we graduate. The next year we are thrown back to being the "low man on the
totem pole" in our next school.

Today, we are graduating seniors and this summer or fall many of us will be starting at those entrylevel jobs that will be the beginning of our careers. Some of us will start graduate school, once
again on the bottom rung of the ladder. But thanks to everything we have learned so far, I am
confident that we will keep climbing, as if we are on an endless ladder to heights we've never
achieved before. For that reason, I urge you to make sure that you are on the ladder on which you
truly WANT to be. Remember that it is YOUR LIFE.

Carl jung said, "your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." So, today I remind you all to look into your
hearts and be awake before you embark upon a dream that is not your own.
Up to this point in many of our lives, most things have been decided for us. From now on, it is up to us to
choose. So be sure to make your choices when you are fully awake, choices that are informed by your
heart and not by what others say or think or believe.
Our contribution to the world will not be measured by the money we make or the accolades we receive,
but rather by the way in which we share our unique gifts with the world. And the only place to find those
gifts is to look within yourself.
So go forth class of 2015 and make your unique contribution!

THANK YOU